Publication date: 18/03/2024
Sète, a Mediterranean port accustomed to festivities
A Mediterranean port of call
In France's Hérault department, Sète is a quiet town. It's often said that Sète is France's leading Mediterranean fishing port... and it's true! But Sète is much more than that: it's a port between river and sea, on the border between the Canal du Midi, the Canal du Rhône à Sète and the Mediterranean. In the Gulf of Lion, it's a city with a uniquehistory and charm .
With its traditional fishing boats still moored in the port, the canals that cross the town, the buildings relating tomaritime history - the fish market, the Quai de la Savonnerie, the Môle Saint-Louis - and, more generally, a very special local art de vivre, Sète is definitely an exceptional destination.
The city and its surrounding area are particularly busy in the summer months, but remain lively all year round. Escale à Sète, in particular, is an event that attracts many visitors to the region every two years in the spring.
Escale à Sète: a celebration of maritime traditions not to be missed
Since 2010, more than 400 volunteers have been working to honor the maritime traditions of the Mediterranean. To do so, they have created a festival called " Escale à Sète ": an event built in partnership with local associations, institutions, several private partners and numerous media, and which aims to safeguard and pass on everything that makes up the intangible heritage of the Grande Bleue. Today, this is a major maritime event in the Mediterranean, whose value has been widely recognized.
Since the festival's first edition 14 years ago, events have followed one another every two years in the port of Sète, meeting with greater success each time. At the last edition, in 2022, the Escale à Sète crew recorded visits from no fewer than 438,000 people, with 2,000 participants from 15 countries!
The year 2024 marks the eighth edition of the festival, now considered the leading event dedicated to maritime heritage in the Mediterranean, and the largest gathering of heritage boats on the French Mediterranean coast. A new edition that, once again, promises the best...
Escale à Sète 2024: a week of exceptional nautical events
While the destination is well worth a visit any time of year, we still recommend you take advantage of the upcoming event: seven intense days of encounters and discoveries around the maritime culture of Sète and, more broadly, the Mediterranean!
Four major themes will punctuate the festival, like four major values that have always animated the association in charge of the event: culture, transmission, solidarity and theenvironment. From Tuesday, March 26 to Monday, April 1, each day of the festival will be dedicated to exploring a particular theme: transmission and the sea trades, maritime culture, environmental protection, solidarity, seafarers, gastronomy, intangible heritage...
As with every edition of the event, your visit will be an opportunity to discover or rediscover the tall ships and traditional boats taking part. The Dutch brig Morgenster, the four-masted Santa Maria Manuela, the replicas Nao Victoria or Shtandart... this year, 130 of them will be part of the festivities! The three-masted Belem, a jewel of French heritage, will also be on hand before heading to Greece to pick up the Olympic flame, as part of the 2024 Olympic Games.
You can visit the ships and discover their stories , as well as the cultural and maritime heritage and traditions associated with them. You'll also have the chance toembark on a number of heritage boats from the port of Sète, and take them out on the Mediterranean.
Throughout the event, you'll also be able to enjoy conferences,exhibitions and themed villages, maritime concerts and sea chanteys, culinary discoveries and environmental awarenesscampaigns.
This new edition ofEscale à Sète will also be an opportunity to discover Mediterranean maritime traditions through numerous knowledge-transmission workshops, with over 1,000 activities planned. Lovers of maritime games will not be outdone, with jousting, rowing competitions, a bigete race and even a life-size reproduction of a historic battle.
Last but not least, not-to-be-missed festival highlights include the Escale à Sète launch parade - on the morning of the first day, the Latin rigging parade - on Saturday, and the event's closing parade - on Sunday.
As you can imagine, Escale à Sète 2024 promises to bring a family-friendly, festive atmosphere to the quays of the port of Sète once again this year... in short, an exceptional atmosphere! For the duration of the event, from March 26 to April 1, 2024, access to the festival will be free for all. There's no excuse not to discover the Mediterranean port...
Getting to Sète by boat
Would you like to travel to Escale à Sète directly with your own unit? Good news: Sète is easily accessible by motorboat or sailboat from the three Mediterranean ports in the Port Adhoc network.
From our marina in Leucate
It takes 43 nautical miles to sail to Sète from Port Adhoc Leucate. This top-quality Mediterranean dry port is the closest our network has to the festival town. Take advantage of the many services offered at Port Leucate, and set sail!
From Port Barcarès
The marina at Port Barcarès is not much further away than the port of Leucate: 47 nautical miles from the town of Sète, it too is ideally situated for taking part in the festivities. After a few days in Port Barcarès or from your year-round Mediterranean port location, head north-northeast to Sète!
Since Port Napoléon, in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône
60 nautical miles separate the marina of Port Napoléon, in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, from the town of Sète and the festival. The navigation will be a little longer than when setting sail from the previous Mediterranean ports, but it can also be the occasion for some magnificent stopovers: if you don't envisage crossing directly fromPort Napoléon with your motorboat or sailboat, why not plan to make a few stops at other Mediterranean ports of call.
Photo credits: escaleasete.com